A Year in The Life
by sierrahearts
Summary: Daniel and Vala have a child together but Vala's life is endangered. Daniel does the best he can to take care of a child with the help of his teammates. Each chapter will be a milestone in the his daughter's life and how Daniel deals with them. D/V, S/J and C/C pairings.
1. Endings and New Beginnings

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Jackson it's a girl!" The doctor informed the new parents as he handed off the newborn to a nurse. Daniel quickly looked up from his exhausted wife to see his little girl. They had both agreed they weren't going to find out the gender. Daniel had protested in the beginning due to wanting to plan and paint the nursery accordingly. Vala on the other hand told him she didn't care either way as long as the baby was healthy and not bent on conquering the galaxy. In the end Vala had won and the ended up painting the nursery in a mountain theme which was fitting considering they met because of the Stargate which happened to be located under Cheyenne Mountain.

Daniel turned to kiss Vala on the forehead but stopped short as he noticed a change in her color. Just moments ago she had been flushed from pushing now it seemed like all the blood had run out of her face. Before Daniel could say anything monitors attached to Vala began to beep as her heart rate increased. "Doctor! Heart rate is increasing and current BP has dropped. Patient is pale and clammy." A nurse called out to the doctor that had just presented the good news. His face went serious as he started barking orders that were beyond Daniel's knowledge.

"What's happening? What's going on?" Daniel could have swore he shouted his questions but they seemed to fall on deaf ears. "Is Vala ok?" Daniel continued looking between the staff and his, now, unconscious wife. Finally a nurse came up to him.

"Mr. Jackson your wife is hemorrhaging. She's bleeding out. Dr. Karvig is going to take her into surgery immediately to see if her can stop the bleeding. We are going to start fluids and blood products. We need your consent for surgery." The nurse explained as the whirlwind of staff prepped Vala to go to surgery.

"Yes, of course! Is she going to be ok?" Hurriedly Daniel scribbled his signature across the form the nurse pushed in front of him.

"Dr. Karvig is going to do everything possible." She explained again. Daniel just nodded absently as he watched them wheel Vala out of the room. After the commotion left the room a high pitched wail came in to focus. His daughter. His brand new baby. He had forgotten momentarily what had brought them to this point. He had a brand new baby girl to think about but also a wife fighting for her life. The nurse followed Daniel's gaze and she ushered him toward the bassinet.

"Can I hold her?" He asked meekly.

"Of course. She's your daughter. Here." The nurse lifted the squirming bundle out of the crib and gently placed her in Daniel's arms. "I'll take you to your room. As soon as I know anything about Vala I'll come running. I promise. Is there anyone I can call for you and her?"

"Thank you." He replied awkwardly as the nurse passed his daughter to him. He followed her out of the delivery room down a hallway that looked the same as every other hall in the hospital. Honestly he had no idea how he'd ever find his way in this maze. The nurse opened a door to a large private room with a window over looking a field.

"Can I call anyone for you?" The nurse asked again.

"Uh no, no thank you. Um actually they were in the waiting room. A group. Would they be able to come in here?" Daniel stood in the middle of the room not exactly sure what he should be doing. Maybe Sam could help when she came in.

"Yes, of course. I'll go get them. If you need anything please don't hesitate to use the call light. I'll be back by soon to check on you and baby Jackson." The nurse started for the door.

"Thank you nurse…I'm sorry I didn't catch your name." Daniel stumbled over his words.

"Nurse Lowden but please call me Hannah. I'll be right back with your family." Hannah exited the room shutting the door quietly.

The longer Daniel stood still the more fussy the bundle in his arms became. Nervously he started pacing the room. That wasn't helping. What had all those books Vala bought told him to do? Damn it with everything going on it seemed his memory was failing him. Think Daniel think! After a couple moments of racking his brain Daniel decided bouncing was the resolution. Or more accurately bouncing while walking. Slowly the little girl began to still in his arms once more.  
After a couple minutes Daniel heard a soft knock on the door and Hannah's head peeked in. She opened the door wider to reveal his team. Sam entered first followed by Jack, Teal'c, Cameron and then Carolyn. Each one had their own worried expression etched on their face.

"Daniel? What's going on? The nurse came and got us but said that they took Vala to surgery." Sam made her way to him first her hand finding a place to rest on his shoulder stopping Daniel in his tracks. Sam's worried eyes wandered down to the sleeping baby in his arms. "Daniel, she's beautiful!"

"Uh they said she was bleeding out. That's about all I know." Daniel explained as the group took up seats around the room leaving just Sam and Daniel in the middle. "Hannah, the nurse, said she would come back by as soon as she knew anything." He shrugged not really knowing what other information he could provide. He was fraught with nerves. If he wasn't holding his daughter he'd probably be visibly shaking. He wasn't sure if it'd be with rage, fear, or something else.

"Well Daniel this is a great hospital and only a very small percent of women die from post-partum hemorrhaging each year." Carolyn explained. Cameron swatted at her arm in an attempt to tell her to shut up.

"Er that's not really comforting like I think you thought it would be Care." Daniel shifted his weight uncomfortably. A small chime sounded from the hallway outside followed by a calm female voice paging a massive transfusion to OR 6. Daniel visibly paled at the sound.

"Daniel we don't know if that's her or not." Cameron stepped forward to offer some sort of reassurance.

"Daniel, " Jack chimed in, "why don't you have a seat before you drop your new bundle of joy."Daniel obliged and sat on the edge of the bed. Sam sat next to him and motioned to take the baby from him. Reluctantly Daniel passed the child off to his best friend.

"Some part of me…a big part of me feels like this is because of the Ori." Daniel finally breathed out disturbing the silence that had fallen on the group.

"Daniel, we can't know that for sure." Sam responded.

"Oh I know. I feel it. Everything was going to well to be our lives." Daniel's voiced sternly.

"You and Vala come up with a name for your little spawn? And Sam don't be getting any ideas over there. We already have two…and a puppy. That's a full house. No more room at the inn!" Jack, the master of deflection, changed the subject. Sam rolled her eyes and started to rock the baby.

"Actually we had it narrowed down to Nyssa Rose. Nyssa is greek for goal or uh ambition. Vala really liked that one. Rose is after my great grandmother. The other name is Madelyn Grace. Madelyn was Vala's grandmother. I was surprised at the similarity to the name Madeline here on Earth." Daniel rattled off facts like it was something most everyone should know.

"Well I think either one would fit her." Sam smiled and wrinkled her nose at the precious bundle that was now peaking one eye at her.

"Ya gonna share or are we going to have to wrestle you to get get a chance to hold her?" Cam piped up. Sam caught Daniel's eye with a questioning look. Daniel replied with a shoulder shrug indicating he wasn't really sure what to do. Sam tried to give him a small reassuring smile before she stood and passed the baby to Cam.

"I guess now we wait, right?" Daniel looked to Carolyn for an answer.

"I think that's all we can do right now." She responded. Jack found the remote and flipped on the tv as the group fell into silence.


	2. Bittersweet Goodbye

The funeral for Vala was held in the gate room of the SGC. Just like Daniel's funeral had been once or twice or maybe more he'd lost track. The only person missing that was close to Vala was Carolyn who had volunteered to stay home with Nyssa, Daniel's daughter. Nyssa had become an extension of Daniel in the past week. Honestly, his daughter was the only thing holding him together. The amount of people he'd lost in his life seemed to still be increasing. Too many people around him had been taken in their prime. It'd seemed that no one at the SGC died of old age. Granted, he knew that their chosen profession came with the possibility of death every time they stepped through the gate. A risk that SG-1 use to all be fairly ok with taking. Now, Daniel wasn't sure if wanted to take that risk anymore. Nyssa was his life now.

Over the past week he had been heavily considering quitting The Stargate Program completely. That idea had never sat quite right with him. The morning of the funeral he had come to a decision. He could no longer be apart of a team that goes off world but he couldn't turn his back completely on something that had proven all of his theories right, brought him together with his closest friends whom he thought of as his family, and ultimately what brought his beautiful baby girl in to the world. With out the Stargate he'd probably be penniless and a mockery in his field of study. The Stargate had also brought him a great deal of pain, physically and mentally.

Sam and Jack had driven Daniel to the compound and back to his home. Honestly, the whole day, no, whole week had been a blur for him. From losing Vala to gaining Nyssa he wasn't quite sure how he was suppose to be feeling so he settled for numb. He couldn't allow himself to wallow in his wife's death but he also didn't feel like he could be overly excited or happy about his daughter. He loved Nyssa, he loved everything about her. She already had quite the little personality but it was such a bittersweet thing to have happen. He knew his friend's meant well and they were trying their hardest but only time could heal his wounds if his wounds could even heal. It felt like Vala's death would always be there at the surface plaguing him.

Daniel didn't blame the hospital for the loss of his wife. He didn't blame his daughter or Vala. He knew Vala was a fighter and probably did everything to stay alive but in the end the blood loss was too much. He blamed the Ori for the first couple of days but even his subconscious wouldn't allow that for long. He would never be able to fully prove what the real cause of Vala's death was. Well he knew the cause but the little voice in the back of his mind would always wonder if the Ori had somehow booby trapped her or maybe just the physical strain of carrying the Orici had created a hostile womb environment. The possibilities were endless and exploring them would never bring Vala back. Daniel could only hope that maybe she had ascended. They had talked about it on many occasions when Vala couldn't sleep but he wasn't sure if Vala could let go of the burdens she carried.

"I just put Nyssa down for a nap. She had a bottle while she was up and I changed her." Carolyn said as she greeted Daniel at the door.

"Thanks Carolyn. I really appreciate it." Daniel gave her a sincere look and began taking off his jacket. Though it rarely rained in Colorado it seemed fitting that it would rain today of all days.

"Think nothing of it Jackson." Cam bellowed as he entered the home. Jack reappeared from the kitchen with a cold beer in hand.

"Yeah Daniel you know we're here for ya." Jack added and then took a sip of the beer letting out a satisfied sigh after. Daniel looked from Jack to the rest of the group. He really did know they meant well but it was starting to become overwhelming having all this support.

"No offense guys but I think I'd kind of like to just be…alone tonight." Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets hoping his friends would understand.

"Of course Daniel." Sam shot Jack a look that said put the beer down. Jack being Jack quickly chugged it and set the empty bottle on the counter.

"Right we have the boys to get home to anyway. God only knows what they've destroyed today." Jack opened the door to let the group start filing out. Cam and Carolyn were the first to leave followed by Jack with Sam bringing up the rear.

"We're only a call away if you or Nyssa need anything." Sam said as she stopped short of the door. Tears glistening in her eyes. Daniel had been so wrapped up in himself he hadn't really stopped to think of how Vala's death had affected the others. Daniel mentally kicked himself and hugged Sam. Sam and Vala had grown to be best friends. It was nice that Sam had another close female friend after Janet died. Even Sam couldn't resist Vala's certain kind of charm. Jack had, of course, loved Vala from the beginning. Anyone that could torture Daniel as well as Jack had was a-ok in Jack's book. The two of them often ganged up on the poor archaeologist. Lord only knows how General Hammond would have dealt with the space pirate if he had ever met her. Vala made Jack look like a perfect angel sometimes. Sam backed out of the hug first, gave Daniel a kiss on the cheek and closed the door behind the door shut a small cry emanated from the nurses at the end of the hall. Daniel sighed and headed in to the nursery.

"Hey baby girl," Daniel cooed in his softest voice. He picked up the squirming child that seemed to have wiggled her way out of the blanket that had previously swaddled her. He settled in to the rocking chair that Vala had found at a garage sale that summer. He held Nyssa against his chest shushing and rocking in the chair with her. Before long Nyssa settled down and fell asleep against his chest. Daniel swore he was only going to close his eyes for a second but soon he, too, was fast asleep.


	3. Life Goes On

It had been a busy week for Daniel. He had finally made the transition from being on SG-1 to strictly being an archeologist on the base. It had taken several months for the right paperwork to be put through and filed. Then another couple months of Daniel tying up loose ends that pertained to off world treaties or digs. Part of Daniel was excited to finally be able to just focus on cataloging artifacts. As well as sitting down to decipher more languages that he hadn't had time to before. There were so many things he had missed out on by constantly going off world. In the end his focus had been on the language of the ancients but there were so many more languages they had come across. Some were derivatives of latin, as well as other dead languages long forgotten on Earth. The other reason his life had been busy was his growing child, Nyssa.

Earlier in the week Nyssa had come down with a double ear infection. The poor thing scared Daniel as she hadn't been sleeping, and had been constantly crying due to the pain. Poor Daniel had been a mess when he had called Carolyn up in the middle of the night. Carolyn has explained that she assumed it was an ear infection but had sent Daniel to the nearest emergency room just to be safe, and so he could get medicine right away. It hurt him to see Nyssa in so much pain and him feeling helpless when he couldn't fix it. Daniel hated feeling helpless. It only reminded him of the times his team had been captured with no rescue in sight, and it reminded him even more of Vala's passing. He had been so helpless then. Even though he knew there was nothing he could have done to save her he couldn't help but think that maybe there had been something. Shaking his head Daniel locked the door to his new office. Now that he was going to be spending more time on base they had relocated him to a more appropriate level with a large office. As he was now the head of the archeological department Daniel was also tasked with herding the, as Jack would say, geeks underneath him. His appointment as head of archeology didn't seem to ruffle too many feathers among the doctor's working underneath him. When he was a member of SG1 he was generally looked up to as the lead archeologist but the title had never actually been his. Spending so much time off world had always prevented him from doing the menial tasks that came with the title. One perk of the new title was now he had an assistant. Although, Kara was more than just an assistant she also had a PhD but having just recently obtained her PhD she was fairly green in the world of the Stargate program. Daniel had been given the pick of the litter when it came to choosing an assistant. Kara had come highly recommended by her professors. Though there were others that had more achievements and accomplishments under their belt Daniel had been wanting fresh eyes for the program. As Daniel rounded the corner of the hallway he found Kara already waiting for the elevator. He came to stand next to her as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

"Oh hello Dr. Jackson!" She greeted him cheerily. "Are you leaving for the day already?" Kara checked her watch. It seemed early for him to be calling it a day.

"Yeah, I have to pick Nyssa up from daycare. She still getting over a double ear infection and I hate leaving her at daycare when she isn't feeling well. She has a pair of lungs that I'm pretty sure she got from her mother." Daniel smirked at his own little joke. It always seemed that when Daniel and Vala bickered it was never a quiet argument. It had always been a competition between them. Which always made Daniel look back and laugh because he had never been a very competitive person until he met Vala. Something about her always brought out the worst and best in him. He noticed Kara look away from him as he mentioned Vala. He hated it. Everyone was still walking on eggshells around him. It'd been six months since she had passed. He was fine. Well as fine as one could be after recently losing their wife, and simultaneously gaining a daughter.

"I'm sorry I never knew Vala but I've heard people talk about her. She seemed like quite the character." She tried to give Daniel a smile and then realized what she had said could be construed as rude. "I mean, not in a bad way! Every one speaks very highly of her." Her cheeks became flushed as she tried to explain. Daniel let out a laugh.

"Don't worry. I know perfectly well how Vala was. She was definitely a character. I think you two would have gotten along." The elevator doors opened and the two colleagues stepped inside. "Are you done for the day as well?" He inquired.

"Oh um yes. I sent you an e-mail. My sister is coming in for a visit and I promised I would pick her up from the airport. She's never been to Colorado. It's ok that I leave right?" Kara was still working on feeling out how Daniel was as a boss. This job was the job of her dreams and she was worried about messing it up.  
"Oh of course. We can't live here 24/7. It's important to have a life outside of the SGC. I mean at one point in time in the beginning I don't think Sam, Jack, or I ever left here. Teal'c never really had a choice and even if he did I don't think he would have left." Daniel gave a shrug thinking back to when his life had been turned upside by the Stargate.

"Right. Well thank you. I hope your daughter starts feeling better." Kara said as they exited the elevator on the ground level.

"Thanks. Have a good time visiting with your sister." Daniel gave her a wave and headed in the opposite direction to find his car. It was strange thinking back to twelve years ago when everything had happened with the Stargate program. Somedays he couldn't even believe the man he had become. Never in a million years did he envision himself as a fighter. Before the Stargate program he had never even shot a gun and now he was fairly proficient with most of the weapons on base. Having mostly been a pacifist before and during the Stargate program he had slowly let go of his pacifist ways. The worlds outside of Earth weren't always so receptive of new comers, and many times it was a dog eat dog world out there.

Daniel felt a pang of guilt fill his chest. He was going to miss going off world, but the guilt was from still wanting to go off world even though he knew he had Nyssa to look out for now. Of course he knew many members of the SGC had families at home. Men and women put their lives on the line everyday with out their families ever knowing if they would come home or not. Daniel couldn't do that to Nyssa. She deserved better than what he had gone through as a child. Losing both of his parents in the same day, being rejected by his grandfather, and then being tossed around from foster home to foster home. He had made Sam and Jack god mother and god father of Nyssa. At least that way if something were to ever happen to him he knew Nyssa was going to be in good hands, but that was a last resort and he hoped it never happened.

The drive to daycare went by in a blur. Before he knew it he was entering the building to pick up his little girl. He could hear her wailing as soon as he entered the building. As he got to the door for the day care center he found one of the care givers trying to console Nyssa who wasn't having any of it. Daniel gave the workers a smile and took his daughter from Ellie, the one who had been trying to make her stop crying. Almost instantly Nyssa began to settle down.

"Sorry Dr. Jackson she took a nose dive and hit her head. Nothing damaging just a little bump." Ellie looked guilty but Daniel knew it was an accident.

"No worries, wouldn't be the first time she's gotten hurt. She's fairly accident prone. It doesn't help that she's a wiggle worm either." Daniel gave his daughter a bright smile which she returned and clapped a hand against his face. "Hopefully she wasn't too much of a terror today."

"An angel until the nose dive. I think she's finally over the ear infection." Ellie informed him as she gathered Nyssa's things into the diaper bag. "Also I think I felt a little tooth start to come in today. She's been quite the drool bug today." She helped Daniel slip the diaper bag onto his shoulder.

"Already!?" It seemed like just yesterday she had been born and now she was already cutting teeth. Ellie couldn't help but giggled at his alarmed tone.

"It's perfectly normal." Ellie gave Nyssa a little tickle as she said her goodbyes. "Will she be with us tomorrow?"

"No, I'm going to work from home tomorrow. Try and spend some time with her since I've been pretty absent this week. Thank you for all your help this week. I really appreciate it." Daniel gave her a smile.

"Of course. We get a lot of little ones here because of the military base so we're use to the odd hours you guys work." Ellie shrugged and began tidying the play area.

"Right. Well thank you again. We'll see you next week. Say bye Nyssa." Daniel waved her little hand at Ellie as they left. Daniel had become a pro at strapping Nyssa into the carseat. Actually he had become a pro at doing everything one handed so it was always nice when he had two hands free. Before they got to the first stop light Nyssa was already asleep. It never stopped amazing Daniel at how sweet his baby girl looked while she slept. When she slept is when he thought he saw more of himself in her. When she was awake she was in every way Vala's daughter. Daniel let out a sigh as he pulled in to the driveway. Before he knew it she'd be dating boys and giving him heart attacks. It wasn't fair that Vala got to skip out on those parts. She'd probably deal with it a lot better than he would.

Daniel wasn't sure how long they had sat in the car in the driveway. He hated waking her up especially since she was finally sleeping more than a couple hours due to her being sick. He took one last look in the rear view mirror and saw her eyes starting to flutter open. He hurried to get her inside so that he could start getting her dinner ready as well as feed himself. He couldn't remember eating lunch today which meant he probably hadn't. Vala would have scolded him if she were here. It had always seemed like Vala was constantly starving and where she put all the food he never knew. Nyssa took after her mother in that respect as well. She was always hungry. If she wasn't sleeping she was eating. It didn't take Daniel long to make dinner and then get Nyssa ready for bed. As he laid Nyssa in her crib he let out a sigh of relief that she was finally not screaming in pain. It had torn at his heart that his abby girl had been sick and he couldn't instantly make her feel better. He knew there were going to be more bad days in her journey through life and he could only hope that he could be there to make things better for her. He wished that there were more good days than bad and that she would never have to have her heart broken like his had been.


End file.
